Committee Diotto

History of the Committee

In order to rasie awareness of the Renaissance, which is an important part of Scarperia’s history, the Diotto Committee decided to create a "Renaissance Day". This celebration began 9 years ago, just after Scarperia was named one of the "most beautiful villages in Italy". Similar celebrations can be found in nearby towns such as Bristol (FI) and Monteriggioni(SI).Originally the historical cortege was made up of participants from the Historical Florentine cortege and Scarperia locals who had rented renaissance costumes. Today the comitte has its own historical cortege consisting of over 120 different costumes. Among these are musicians, nobles, dames, flag throwers, notaries, palace guards, and messengers. These costumes were created based on historical research and are extremely accurate in their details incluidng shoes, hats and jewelry.During the year, the Committee organizes meetings with the participants to explain the spirit of the celebration and to remind them the importance of being consistent with the time period. This means leaving all modern jewelry, watches and other accessories at home. In total, there are about 800 participants involved in Renaissance Day.Besides being a way to remember the past, the Renaissance Day is a chance to show off the old customs and traditions of the town. These include ancient crafts and artisians , most of which have become obselte. Walking through the streets on the Renaissance day you can find menders, basket weavers, blacksmiths, carpenters, jugglers, witches, magicians ,fortune tellers and of course knife makers. The Palazzo dei Vicari (open all year) as well as the Torrino are open to visitors on this day. The Committee works hard preparing this special event. Preparations for the Renaissance Day as well as the Palio of Diotto start months before the actual celebration. Soon after the fesitivies have come to a close the comittee gets hard to work planning the next years celebration. The Committee is made up of 15 good willed people as well as the citizens of Scarperia who are always available to organize these celebrations.

Flag-wavers and Musicians of Saint Barnaba Castel

The group " Bandierai and Musici di Castel San Barnaba " of Scarperia was born to give life to a reenactment of the art of flags, within a large and colorful procession from the same country that revolves around the day of the feast hall, a symbol of ' establishment of the new Vicar : Tell the eight (8 September).The sign, flag, has been since the beginning of the sixteenth century the symbol that the bishop defended to the death of his army . This was in fact what he recognized a faction , a district , or a family , as was the case for the Army , a militia .And the bishops were protagonists in their games outposts signaling with flags of the movements of the enemy to the allied troops . So it was then that , during the Renaissance , the flags became a symbol of celebration and student spirit and skill games that were held during the holidays to Florence Corte de ' Medici.The flags are still a symbol of the " festive joust " which implies , as then, a good deal of preparation athletic physique , a strong sense of accuracy and should not be underestimated choreography together still accompanied by traditional musical instruments: drums, snare drums and trumpets that sound festive while recalling a military cadence .The drape , as well as costumes , are inspired by the colors of the Banner of the City of Scarborough and depicting the emblem of the lily of Florence in red on a white field , because of its origins stemming from Florentine history .Also there is represented the Palazzo dei Vicari , symbol of the history of the City " Vicariate of Scarperia" which we owe our existence. The drums are still made by hand, with a wooden frame , leather calf rope guy and decorated entirely with patient skill.Finally, the trumpets of the band , they are still one of the few wind instruments without any help from modulation of tone setting that is expressed only in breath through a thorough understanding of the instrument.The Group " Bandierai and Musici di Castel San Barnaba " was founded in April 1999, just for fun, as a support to the historical manifestation of Scarperia , the current workforce is 12 bandierai and 27 musicians .You can find all the information about the group at: www.castelsanbarnaba.it